Hike #215 4/30/6
The group on the blue Patriot's Path heading toward Bamboo Brook
4/30/6
This next hike would be the one to finish walking the former Rockaway Valley Railroadright of way as well as some other trails. My plan was to begin at Hacklebarney State Parkand walk to Speedwell Lake at Morristown on the Patriot’s Path, which closely followedthe rail bed.
Patriot's Path, Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center
Bamboo Brook OEC.
Bamboo Brook OEC.
In Bamboo Brook OEC.
At Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center
Hiking Willowood Arboretum
Willowwood Arboretum
Willowood Arboretum
Rockaway Valley Railroad bed in Willowood Arboretum
Imminent doom" We found a skull along a new section of Patriot's Path north of Gladstone.
Major Tom found a deer stand along Patriot's Path north of Gladstone
View somewhere south of Chester
View somewhere south of Chester
Crossing a swamp land off trail just north of Gladstone NJ
Guillermo in the marsh where we lost the Patriot's Path
Peapack Brook crossing, Patriot's Path
Peapack Brook
I think I'm in Peapack Brook along blue Patriot's Path
Peapack Brook crossing
Peapack Brook crossing
Resting near Peapack Brook
Patriot's Path just north of Roxiticus Road
Burnett Brook near Ralston
Crossing Burnett Brook near Ralston and Schiff Reserve
Former Rockaway Valley Railroad bed and site of Burnett Brook trestle.
Rockaway Valley Railroad bed in Ralston NJ area
Ball fields in Ralston
Pond along Patriot's Path/rail trail in Mendham NJ
Patriot's Path near Mendham.
Patriot's Path in the Mendham vicinity
Patriot's Path near Mendham
Patriot's Path near Mendham
Patriot's Path near Mendham
Patriot's Path, former Rockaway Valley Railroad bed near Lewis Morris Park
Patriot's Path, former Rockaway Valley Railroad bed where the tree roots are growing in lines where the ties used to be.
Speedwell bridge
Speedwell dam
Jean approaching Speedwell
Dave approaching Speedwell
Mr. Buckett approaching Speedwell
Speedwell Lake
Guillermo approaching Speedwell
Rail bed/Patriot's Path west of Morristown
Patriot's Path/rail bed west of Morristown
Patriot's Path/railroad bed just west of Watnong Station
Patriot's Path just west of the Watnong Station site
Finishing up our hike at Speedwell...after dark.
I was late showing up at the meeting point of Speedwell lake. Jim “Mr.Buckett” Mathews showed up at my house in the morning and offered to drive since I waslacking my car. Skyler Jermyn and Major Tom also rode over with us. Also in the groupwere Major Tom Conroy, Fred Hafale, Dave Finton, Bill Fabel (or as we would come tocall him “Guillermo” because there are so many Bills), Bill Jacobsen, Sue Bickford Martin,and Jean Fletcher. We shuttled vehicles to one of the parking areas on Pottersville Road, where we began towalk the road a short distance to the Patriot’s Path southbound. Skyler and I weredrinking some sort of alchahol immediately entering the woods, but I really don’tremember what kind it was. I just remember Skyler laughing histerically and we wererunning around frantically through the fields. We entered the woodlands on the Bamboo Brook Trail section of the PP, then descendedto the Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center with nice views over the countryside.Flowers were all around us as everything was beginning to bloom with the Spring. Wedescened to the buildings and walked the PP down the driveway. I decided we should looparound the PP trail to a couple different trail since we walked the PP on the previous trip.It was hard to follow the trail, but we made our way out to Bamboo Brook and wanderedalong a nice route passing by a great swimming hole, though it was still a bit too cold tomake use of it. We soon rejoined the PP and headed up to the Willowood Arboretum,entering the gate into the fenced area. We again got off of the PP here to view part of theArboretum area, which was also in full bloom with interesting looking trees and plants.We passed the buildings here, not taking too much time, and getting onto the Patriot’sPath on the old “Rockabye Baby” railbed. We followed the path out of the Arboretum,across the road and onto a fill. I was impressed with the condition of the right of waythrough here. There was only one part that seemed to be washed out. Before we reachedDaly Road, I could not figure out where the railroad went. We turned left on Daly Roadto Rt 206. I considered bushwhacking into the woods, but no one else was into it, optioninstead to walk north toward Rogers Road, thinking we’d use the road to the next trailsection, as the rail right of way was unrecognizeable. There was a power line parallel to the road here, and after a while I decided to climb to itto look for new trail section, as the Patriot’s Path map showed this as being a proposedsection. Soon, I was amazed to find a tape blazed trail, and I signaled everyone to comeand join me. Not long after getting onto this trail, the Patriot’s Path blazes resumed! Wejoked that we should’nt be there, as there was an animal skull attatched to a tree. We continued on the trail, which ended up following very closely to Rogers Road at first,then descended to a well marked crossing over the driveway to a place where Seeing EyeDogs are trained. There were even walkway fences at the crossing. On the other side, theblazes soon ended and all that remained were the orange tapes on trees. We spent a lot oftime trying to get on the trail, and a woman on the driveway tried telling us we should’ntbe there, but was pretty much okay if we were on the trail, though she had’nt heard aboutit. I think it was Bill Jacobsen who found the real route, and we continued through thewoods and through a dip parallel to the driveway, then parallel to a fencelinearound theoutside of the property. There was obviously trail work done throughout the section, as we followed it for a longdistance. There was’nt anything of historical significance, and not much of anything at allthrough the section other than woods and one tree stand. We eventually lost the tapeblazes somehow and just paralleled one of the tributaries to Peapack Brook just above iton the hill. I think we crossed the rail right of way at one point, as there was a grade, butI’m not sure if that was it or not. Still, there were still beautiful views of the land along theway. We soon came uncomfortably close to the nearby new houses.
I tried to just ignorepeople in their yards at first, but eventually shouted out for someone to help us out. Thewoman I yelled to in her back yard did’nt reply, and I thought she held up a phone like shewas going to call the police, but I was’nt sure. Fred went ahead with Dave and crossedone yard along the creek, so I made a quick decision to just follow them, which was thebest idea. We were able to get in along the creek again and get back out to the next road,where we turned left and soon reached Old Chester Road. We saw a jogger and he told ushow to get to the next Patriot’s Path section. At the next intersection to the right, thePatriot’s path resumed. Directly across the street I could see the tape blazed trail goinginto a narrow stretch of land, certainly the route we should have been on. We began following the PP parallel to the road separated only by a line of hedges whichwas interesting. We turned away from the road along a ledge from an old quarry, thenparalleled the Peapack Brook a bit before having to wade across it. We took a break hereand I think everyone ate lunch. We continued on to the east away from the brook andthrough a few fields. We must have been north of the rail right of way, as I do not recallseeing any remnants. Though my Patriot’s Path map showed the trail going straight on through, it abruptlyended at a fence at what was apparently now a golf course, and we had to turn right, orsouth down along the edge of a fence on an overgrown trail. We continued into amarshland on a section of the trail which I believe had red blazes. It was tough to stay onthe correct route, but we soon reached Roxitiucus Road. We opted to follow this road outto Ralston where we could pick up the continueous Patriot’s Path on the railbed. I hadwanted to get back to it in Mt Paul Memorial park from Fox Chase Road, but this mayhave been difficult because the trails are somewhat unimproved according to Fred. We continued on the road passing by huge ranch style houses and crossed the NorthBranch of the Rariton River. I waited on top of the bridge truss for Skyler and Mr Buckettwho had fallen behind. After a break we soon caught up with everyone else at Ralston.Fred led the way, as he was familiar with the trail section. There was a trail across the roadleading into the Schiff Reservation, and one straight ahead and across the North Branchagain on cylinder shaped slabs. The middle one was a long jump. I lifted Sue across andhelped everyone else as it was a far jump. We soon reached the railroad bed. Fred and Iturned back west because I wanted to see the site of where the railroad crossed theBurnett Brook, and then we headed back to the rest of the group heading east. Eventually,the Patriot’s Path would continue on the right of way an to Mt Paul Memorial Park, but atthis time it was incomplete. We soon reached a ball field to the north of the right of way, and we headed up to findwater. I was distressed because the first water fountain did not work, but fortunitely thesecond one did. The Patriot’s Path on and off the railbed on the way to Speedwell Lake was definitelyinteresting. It would have been much more enjoyable if we were’nt already so tired. Partof the path followed the railbed with a road built on it, and at another part the trail had tobe routed through the woods where new homes had been constructed over the railbed. Itwas places like this that I found particularly interesting how the trail was routed. Weended up walking along evergreen trees placed between the trail and homes, and throughthe narrowest stretches of woods. When we reached Mendham, we came out behind a police station where I asked a cophow much further it would be till Morristown. He told me it would be about a half hourmore, and then maybe 45 minutes to Speedwell. He could’nt have been more wrong. Weended up walking for several more hours! The rest of the group all walked far ahead bythis time while Skyler, Major Tom, and I continued on behind. I was a bit worried when another branch of the Patriot’s Path broke off to the north, as Iwas not sure which way to go. Fortunitely, we followed the correct path. We passedthrough an area called Brookside and north of Morristown National Historical Park, andthrough what I believe was part of Lewis Morris Park. It appeared as though the railroadbed continued through what was now swampland alongside Rt 24 while the Patriot’sPath’s main section took us uphill and over some rolling hills through the woods, thenopening up onto Whitehead Road. Here, Major Tom was hurting pretty bad, and it wasonly a couple more miles to Speedwell so I had him wait there. I called Dave up and askedhim if he could come back and pick Major Tom up, as he was at the endpoint already, andSkyler and I would go as fast as we could to get to the end. As soon as we left Major Tom, Skyler and I began running on an easy section of the rightof way across a small fill above marshland in Washington Valley. We continued on andcrossed a couple more roads. The trail became paved shortly where another Patriot’s PathBranch paralleled us on the opposite side of the Whippany River. We eventually got to thesite of Watnong Station where the railroad originally ended. It was obvious that it wasonce more than one track through this part. We crossed the road where the right of way was destroyed due to the construction of aSewage Treatment facility. The trail took us closer to the Whippany River. The railroadwas intended to connect with the Lackawanna Railroad in Morristown but was nevercompleted as the Rockabye Baby line was abandoned in 1917. Before getting to the nextroad, we walked across a bit of fill that was part of the unfinished railroad extention, thenwalked out to I believe it was Lake Road. The trail paralleled the road shortly, thencontinued across another bridge. From the bridge, just to the south the abutments from therailroad bridge were visible. The Patriots’ Path headed northeast from the road on theother side, where a railroad cut was visible from the road, and a concrete bridge for theline still existed under the road, only it was filled in. We continued slightly down hill and soon along the shore of Speedwell Lake. When theend of the lake started coming into view, Skyler and I decided to run for it. We were quitetired and it was now dark, but I was quite happy to have walked it finally.
Photos by Mike Helbing and Fred Hafale (FH)
Here's a link to all the pictures followed by their descriptions:
Guillermo in the marsh where we lost the Patriot's Path
1.) Along the Bamboo Brook Trail/Patriot's Path (FH)
2.) Major Tom at Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center
3.) Skyler pauses at Bamboo Brook OEC
4.) Taking a break along Bamboo Brook (FH)
5.) Bamboo Brook
6.) On the Patriot's Path leaving Bamboo Brook OEC
7.) Skyler and Fred in Willowood Arboretum
8.) Willowood Arboretum scene
9.) Hiking through the arboretum (FH)
10.) Patriot's Path on the former Rockaway Valley Railroad in Willowood Arboretum
11.) Skyler and Major Tom find a skull hanging on a tree on Patriot's Path just east of Rt 206; we'd joked that this meant bad things to come, if only we'd known..!
12.) Major Tom on a deer stand along Patriot's Path east of Rt 206
13.) View from future Patriot's Path route near Old Chester Road
14.) Homes we passed while lost in a narrow stretch of woods (FH)
15.) Guillermo striking a pose as he and the rest of the group navigate a wet area off trail
16.) Navigating the wet area to a road near Old Chester Road
17.) Crossing Peapack Brook on the Patriot's Path
18.) Me in Peapack Brook, Patriot's Path
19.) Peapack Brook
20.) Preparing to walk some more after crossing Peapack Brook (FH)
21.) Taking a break along Peapack Brook (FH)
23.) I'm going over the map while everyone rests (FH)
24.) Me on the Patriot's Path just north of Roxiticus Road
25.) The North Branch of the Raritan River just west of Ralston
26.) Fred crossing North Branch of the Raritan in Ralston, as Major Tom and Mr. Buckett wait
27.) Former Rockaway Valley Railroad at site of the crossing of Burnett Brook
28.) Rockaway Valley Railroad bed (abandoned 1916) just west of Ralston
29.) Ball fields along the Patriot's Path/Rail bed where we stopped for water (FH)
30.) An island in a pond along Patriot's Path in the Mendham Vicinity
31.) Skyler on the Patriot's Path somewhere near Mendham
32.) Patriot's Path/Railroad bed east of Mendham
33-34.) Major Tom on Patriot's Path/rail bed somewhere near Brookside I think
35.) Skyler and Major Tom on the Patriot's Path/rail bed somewhere near Brookside
36.) Skyler on the railbed somewhere near Washington Corner
37.) Major Tom on the rail bed, notice the ties still in place, though rotting
38.) The bridge at Speedwell I believe; Fred and company got done earlier than us (FH)
39.) Speedwell Lake dam (FH)
40.) Jean Fletcher at Speedwell (FH)
41.) Dave Finton near Speedwell (FH)
42.) Mr. Buckett on Patriot's Path at Speedwell (FH)
43.) Sunset at Speedwell Lake (FH)
44.) Guillermo reaching Speedwell (FH)4
5.) Patriot's Path/Railroad bed east of Morristown National Historic Park
46.) Skyler on the railbed nearing Morristown
47.) Patriot's Path just west of Morristown and Watnong Station site
48.) Patriot's Path just west of Watnong Station
49.) Skyler and I running to arrive at Speedwell (FH)
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